Homemade Pasta Sauce

At our last anniversary we really didn't have a lot of money, so finding a gift that was thoughtful and inexpensive was difficult. In the end I settled on a packet of 6 small tomato plants. 

I know many of you may not find tomato plants a very meaningful gift, but Leigh and I both love gardening and cooking and to my husband this would be something He would appreciate. 

We planted the tiny plants and only a few months later we found ourselves managing a tomato jungle- if this was reminiscent of our love life - than boy what a flourishing romance!

This first crop is the beginning of many more- so I knew that I'd have to be creative in using up all our tomatoes.  I decided to try my hand at making a pasta sauce. 

Here's what I created

 Tomato Vegetable Pasta Sauce

1- Boil water in a large Sauce pan and add about 2Kg Of tomatoes (with the stems cut off) only for a few seconds. 

2- Immediately place tomatoes in an ice bath and remove skins.

3- use Tupperware Extra Chef to dice: 

2 -3 onions

8 garlic cloves

2 carrots

1/2 red capsicum

 4- Empty boiled water from large sauce pan.  Add 1/4 olive oil and place over medium heat.

5- Add diced Veg and sauté for 2-3 minutes.

6- Add 2 tsp of vegetable stock, some salt,  and herbs (I used 2 oregano stalks from my garden and 1 stalk of thyme) 

7- Add the peeled tomatoes and 1 tbsp brown sugar. 

8- turn heat down and simmer for 1.5-2hours stirring occasionally. 

Tip: In the last half hour of cooking add a peeled carrot (I've found this helps remove some of the acidity)

9- Let cool- and blend until smooth in your blender. 

10- Enjoy your homemade Pasta sauce over your choice of pasta! Create a bolognese by browning mince in a sauce pan and then adding the pasta sauce to simmer for 10-15 minutes afterwards. 

11- Keep leftover sauce for about a week in the fridge! You can also bottle it per canning instructions.